did you all catch the remark of jeanne moos of cnn as obama was being driven to his offices

[niyad]

in downtown chicago? referencing all the suv's, she said, "looks just like oj simpson" why is this woman still on the air?

[Kittycat]

1. Oh WTF? Send a letter of complaint.

[Name removed]

2. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Sabriel]

3. I'd rather he was like Jessica Simpson

Le rowr rowr!

Anyway, in a just world, a nasty comment like that should get a person fired.

[Gullvann]

4. Because she is kinda funny?

:dunce:

[Renew Deal]

5. I saw it on the Daily Show

Stewart was funny about it.

[Richardo]

6. Jeannie Moos is usually pretty funny for a features reporter

I'll give her a pass and chalk it up to a verbal mis-fire. God knows I've had enough of those.

[no limit]

7. it was a dumb thing to say. But I think there are more important things to be outraged about

[niyad]

25. there are a lot of things about which to be outraged, and I am about all of them.

[Gullvann]

28. Perhaps you should have a chat with that Duer who is a Sufi

minister :-)

I agree that there is a lot to be outraged about. However, this one does not rank particularly high on the scale of the outrageous. And, making an uproar over this, diminishes our credibility when tackling the issues that really matter.

In my modest opinion :-)

[niyad]

34. you are entitled to your opinion, as I am entitled to mine. one the the things that is important to

realize is how important even seemingly trivial things can be.

"the fundamentals of our economy are strong" helped sink mccain's campaign (for which we can be thankful)

words have power, even the seemingly trivial, and I pay attention.

[EFerrari]

8. She's a comedian and was making the most outrageous comparison possible.

Satire.

[niyad]

16. she's a comedian? since when? and that remark ranks right about the same as the "joke"

one of our fellow DU'ers told us about the other day.

[EFerrari]

43. Her segments are written as stand up bits.

You don't have to like her, niyad. I think she made a mistake and that she didn't intend to offend anyone. That happens.

ETA: I think I need to apologize for comedy writers and also for stand ups instead of trying to explain. We make calculations about where the edge is and sometimes, we get it really wrong.

In the months after 9/11, we were banned from doing jokes like, "His wife was a librarian, you'd think she could have gotten him Hooked on Phonics" -- because it was too "harsh".

It's a calculation that isn't always helped by the corporations that cut our checks.

Sorry, niyad.

[spanone]

9. pretty damned offensive

[Gullvann]

17. How so? (eot)

Perhaps, not being American I am missing something?

[niyad]

21. a reference to the "slow-speed chase" when oj simpson was attempting to elude the

police after the brutal murder of his wife nicole, and ron goldman.

[Gullvann]

26. I took it as a reference to the TV coverage of that chase, not

the chase itself. A fairly major difference IMHO.

I have seen the Daily Show make similar references.

Though, not regarding Obama.

[Captain Hilts]

10. It's poor taste, but she IS there for comedic relief. nt

[orleans]

11. ha. ha. ha. (really fucking funny--not)

don rickles was on letterman the other night, making a few creepy "jokes"/comments. the audience sounded like they were starting to boo him. maybe it was just me reading something into it, but dave seemed to get nervous and began changing the subject to get rickles away from this riff he was doing before the audience killed him.

[Blaze Diem]

12. Fuckin Racist Bitch..She's been eluding to race & hate since she first opened

her big fat lying mouth at the RNC convention.
What makes her racist doublespeak relevant?

She needs to shut the F up.
She is a big part of the problem why the race hate continues.

[Gullvann]

13. Can you give an example or two?

I have to use the opportunity to compliment your rather charming usage of the English language. With your delightful attitude matching your considered vocabulary, I am certain you are a strong contributor to a more loving world.

[EFerrari]

19. Alluding. Eluding means evading.

And, this joke has been a common one in the stand up community since the day OJ took to the freeway. it has little or nothing to do with race and everything to do with SUVs. How many times have you actually watched her?

Whatever. Dislike her all you want, your privilege.

[Gullvann]

23. Just my point

And, in Jeannie Moos little piece, I think she was making a flippant comment regarding the TV coverage of Obama as "OJ-Style"

Which it was :-)

[EFerrari]

31. Yuppers. I don't blame people for being sensitive though,

after the awful cr@P! spewed during the campaign. :)

[Blaze Diem]

36. WHoooaaaa..Mea Culpa..That answer of mine was actually meant for a different

post..what happens when you have two DU pages going at one time.
However, this post being also about race, did have a bit of a raw overtone to it,
and in NO WAY do I personally find it humorous, considering who OJ Simpson is, without regard to his color.
I actually tried to self-delete my nasty-ass post but it was too late to do so according to DU rules.
SO.
My apologies, but this ref to OJ Simpson is pretty damn low anyway.
Maybe something the likes of Sarah Palin would laugh at.

Blaze.

[EFerrari]

38. You know what's strange, Blaze, is that as somene involved in comedy

I see what she was going for and how it misfired. She didn't mean to hurt anyone or to diss Obama.

My ex used to do a joke about a homeless person in San Francisco panhandling for $10 for a cappucino and a chocolate almond torte. People were HORRIFIED unless he remembered to include himself in the formerly homeless which he was.

This happens in comedy all the time. She tried something that didn't work. I'm sure she's hating it right now. And I'm pretty sure she didn't intend this as some kind of racial slur on our new president. Jeannie slammed Bush really good for years.

:hi:

[Blaze Diem]

40. OK OK. She can return to my appreciation by one-upping her Obama/OJ joke with a Sara Palin

joke with equal disgust.

Cuz right now I'm not thinking she's very funny at all.
but may be a good stab at Palin & her supremist base, with Moos's own brand of humor, I may feel she's evened the score.

thanks.

[EFerrari]

47. That's very fair of you. n/t

[ecstatic]

14. W.T.F....?? How offensive

Good to know what she really thinks but now it's time to write CNN and beg them to put a less racist person on the air.

[Gullvann]

15. Did you actually see the clip?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pA2qLLlPeRY

The OJ reference is at the very end.

[niyad]

18. I saw the clip, and it was, and remains, offensive. comparing obama to a murderer eluding the

police--how is that NOT offensive?

[Gullvann]

22. It is the same clip that I posted?

I think she was referring to the way the press covered the SUVs from press Helicopters, just like in the infamous OJ car chase years ago.

John Stewart made fun of some tv channel just the other day for their "OJ-style coverage" of some white SUV, instead of showing some other major event that was going on.

And,wasn't OJ acquitted?

(edited for spelling)

[niyad]

24. you can dress it any way you want--but to compare anything about pres-elect obama to simpson

was, and remains, offensive.

lots of guilty people get off, and don't forget, a civil court did find him responsible.

[EFerrari]

32. The comparison was coverage = coverage, not Obama = O.J.

It was probably a mistake. That happens sometimes in comedy.

[ShortnFiery]

39. Right cuz ya know, theys both got the same skin tone?

:crazy: We're in a figurative mine field here. :nuke:

I once put my foot in my mouth by MINDLESSLY asking young Japanese Pilots if they knew where Pearl Harbor was. :wow: :blush: In my defense, it was an innocent question when they were asking me where "exactly" I lived on the Island of Oahu, but very upsetting to me none the less.

Even in comedy you have to know both yourself and your audience. What Moos has said would have been funny to a mostly White audience as late as ten years ago, but it don't fly now. IMO, that's a good thing - we are becoming aware as Americans that not every "point of reference" is White. :shrug:

[EFerrari]

41. Yes, it is a mine field and more people will screw up.

And in comedy, you sometimes drop one of the balls you are juggling. It happens. In her mind at the time, she probably thought that everyone would recognize what an over the top, inside out reference that would be. She made a mistake. After this filthy campaign, we're all sensitized -- and that's probably a good thing, too.

But I guarentee you her viewpoint isn't "white" per se. It was to people who have witnessed the last 20 years of over the top media coverage and all the visual images we have from that coverage -- and that isn't "white".

[ShortnFiery]

42. Understood. Your words IMO, also ring true. Still, Moos would benefit if she also ...

gained a Black friend or TWO? That is, her cultural perspective is a little stifled and narrow. :shrug:

[EFerrari]

44. Let's see how she recovers.

That's the real test, right? What she does with the feedback she's getting. We don't really know who her friends are. We only know what her persona says and that isn't usually the whole of the real entertainer.

But, the ball is in her court now.

[ShortnFiery]

45. True. She's bright and will reassess. I can't help but sort of like her.

I hope she listens to feedback and improves. :hi:

[EFerrari]

46. Every headliner I've ever met has a horror story of when they did something like this.

The ones who get it are still headlining, lol.

:hi:

[rdublue]

20. She said they were going thru Chicago 'OJ style'

for the most part her clip was good when I saw it, the OJ style was a bit of the hook but I don't think she meant real harm.

[ShortnFiery]

27. No, I know her heart is not prejudice but journalists must always be careful to stay aware of other

cultural influences. WASP is no longer an appropriate point of reference. :eyes:

[DU GrovelBot]

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[camera obscura]

30. She's the one that made that moronic clip of Obama "waving" to Osama bin Laden

"Humor" or not, that's just stupid.

[Gullvann]

33. Her job is to make "moronic" clips.

Sometimes they make me chuckle, sometime they make me smile, and sometimes they leave me shaking my head.

And, with that I leave this thread :-)

[ShortnFiery]

37. But this one ventured into the realm of "dumb-ass" ...

Us folks of the lighter skinned European extraction need to face REALITY - we are no longer the majority and/or the ruling class. She was "playing the line" to the White audience. If you're Black, it works - sort of ... If you're NOT, it don't. :-)

Moos figuratively "screwed the pooch" by assuming that her entire audience was WASP.

Know your audience = Epic FAIL. :thumbsdown:

[ShortnFiery]

35. Perhaps both Moos and Cobert need to enjoy the company of MORE than one Black Friend?

:eyes:




IMNSHO it was just mindless ... unthinking from Moos who doesn't mix with many people of DIFFERING cultures within the USA. I grew up in South Dakota and did not know any African Americans. I can personally attest to the fact that when people do NOT MIX and INTERACT socially with others "not like them" - they demonstrate the tendency make far too many UGLY assumptions about the behaviors of "the other."

Now, my best friend second to my husband, is within an interracial marriage. I see how other neighbors treat her and her family "differently." It's subtle but very real. These WASP neighbors are not bad people but they have not taken the time to become friends with people of color. It's not IMO overtly mean-spirited but we need to interact with many differing groups of people ... more than at the workplace. If we stay in our "partitions" then we'll continue to think the worst of "the other."